The Los Lunas School District is working to return six palm scanners they bought more than a year ago and never used.

Palm scanners are used as a way for kids to pay for lunches at several schools nationwide instead of bringing cash or a card to class. Before they get their food, kids place their hand on the scanner and it takes a photograph of the veins beneath their skin. Experts say it's an image that cannot be replicated. Once their identity is confirmed, money is withdrawn from an individual lunch account. Other school districts that use them nationwide say they make the lunch line move faster among other benefits.

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When Los Lunas Schools introduced the idea in 2013, parents fired back, some saying they had concerns, others with a firestorm of questions.

In early 2014, Action 7 News followed up, asking to meet with the district about the scanners. After several phone calls, Los Lunas Schools responded confirming they had decided not to install the scanners after all, but said they had bought the devices. They turned down an interview saying they were busy because it was the end of the school year.

Almost a year later, Action 7 News followed up again. It wasn't until we went to Los Lunas and told parents the scanners were sitting in storage that the district finally responded. Claire Cieremans, the chief financial officer for Los Lunas Schools' Student Nutrition Department, said they had bought six devices for $260 each.

Parents were upset to hear the district had bought the scanners without them knowing. Several of them said they felt like it was a waste of money that could have been used elsewhere.

"It bothers me," one parent said.

"It's frustrating," another parent, Sean Brown, said. "We've got these things, it's a bigger waste to not use them than it is to use them and not necessarily be thrilled with them."

At last check, Cieremans has said they were working to return the devices and get their money back.